Do You Know What Really Causes High Blood Pressure?
By Stephen Josephs
According to research, in approximately 90 TO 95 percent of high blood pressure cases, the cause is unknown. In fact, you can have high blood pressure for years without knowing it. However, consider the facts, it has been stated in reports that a poor diet and diets high in sodium are also known to be causes of high blood pressure.
Salt and High Blood Pressure: According to the American heart association a healthy adult should consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day. This is about 1 teaspoon of sodium chloride (salt) PER DAY NOT PER MEAL.
1/4 teaspoon of salt contains 575 mg sodium
1/2 teaspoon of salt contains 1,150 mg sodium
3/4 teaspoon of salt contains 1,725 mg sodium
1 teaspoon of salt contains 2,300 mg sodium
Determining and then limiting how much salt you personally intake daily is really quite simple. Start by reading all your food labels. You will be shocked at how much sodium some common products contain. Fast food is a good example of what to look out for. The average fast food burger contains over 1000mg of sodium and if you get the fries add another 800mg plus. One average fast food meal equals nearly your entire recommended daily maximum intake of sodium, not to mention all the calories and fat usually comprised from the poorest quality foods known to man.
Now that you know some of the most common causes, what can you do to help lower your risks of acquiring high blood pressure? Your first step should be to clearly understand the causes and eliminate them, look through your kitchen cabinets and make a list of all the products you consume frequently and log how much sodium each one has. Simply identify the products that contain the highest amounts and substitute alternate choices in their place.
Known causes: There are few cases which the cause of high blood pressure is known, these cases are referred to as secondary hypertension, and include:
Cause 1- Kidney abnormality and a number of kidney diseases
Cause 2- Structural abnormality of the aorta, existing since birth
Cause 3- Narrowing of certain arteries.
Salt and High Blood Pressure
Conclusion: The best control and prevention is to follow a healthy diet, reduce the amount of salt in your diet, maintain a healthy weight, stay physically active, limit alcohol and quit smoking.
